8.  The first applicant was born in 1930 and lives in Salonika. The second applicant is a commercial partnership with its registered office in Pieria (northern Greece).
9.  On 7 July 1994, by means of a joint decision of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Works (no. 1078361/4744/0010), the Greek State expropriated property covering a total surface area of 455,024 sq. m, with a view to improving certain sections of the main road between the towns of Platamonas and Katerini in Pieria. The expropriation affected 2,455.12 sq. m of land belonging to the first applicant and 2,401 sq. m belonging to the second (entered in the land register as plots nos. 64 and 214 respectively). The administrative authorities decided that the applicants should not receive any compensation in respect of 716.40 sq. m of plot no. 64 and 490 sq. m of plot no. 214, as they were deemed to have derived benefit from the construction of the road.
10.  On 7 June 1995 the State applied to the Katerini Court of First Instance for an assessment of the provisional unit amount of compensation per square metre. The first applicant was not summoned to appear in court.
11.  On 14 June 1996 the court determined the provisional amount of compensation for plot no. 214. It also assessed the amount of special compensation for the unexpropriated parcels of land at 100,000,000 drachmas (GRD) (judgment no. 118/1996).
12.  The applicants subsequently applied to the Salonika Court of Appeal for the assessment of the final amount of compensation for the expropriation. In their observations, they submitted that the irrebuttable presumption in law that owners of property fronting a public highway derived benefit from the expansion of the highway was contrary to Article 17 of the Constitution and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.
13.  In an interlocutory decision of 18 June 1997 the Court of Appeal observed that, in assessing the unit amount of compensation for property expropriated with a view to building a main road, the court merely determined the amount, without considering whether and to what extent the adjoining owners had an obligation to contribute to the expropriation costs pursuant to section 1 of Law no. 653/1977. It ordered an expert assessment of the real value of the expropriated property (judgment no. 2380/1997).
14.  On 29 September 1999 the Court of Appeal assessed the final unit amount of compensation for the expropriation of plots nos. 64 and 214 at GRD 8,000 per square metre. It also assessed the final amount of special compensation for the unexpropriated parcels of plot no. 64 at GRD 45,142,390 (judgment no. 2741/1999).
15.  On 18 March 2000 the applicants appealed on points of law. They argued that the fact that the Court of Appeal had merely determined the amount of compensation for the expropriation, without considering whether and to what extent the adjoining owners had an obligation to contribute to the expropriation costs, was contrary to Article 17 of the Constitution, Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.
16.  In a judgment of 23 March 2001 the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal, at least in so far as it concerned the present case (judgment no. 480/2001).